35. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (PS2)

Not as good as some other MGS games, but still an amazing game with a great story.

Prior to PS1, what were the better received, better selling games? There were Nintendo games like Mario Kart, Super Mario, Zelda, Starfox, Kirby, Donkey Kong, etc which all matured well on the N64, Final Fantasy and other Squaresoft JRPGs (which matured well into 3D on PS1), Street Fighter (no PS1/N64 era game), Disney games like alladin (no major N64/PS1 era title), and what Mortal Kombat?

The world pre N64/SNES was defined by Nintendo games and JRPG's, all of which have matured well on the 6th generation. So when you said aside from these games, you basically said "aside from the bulk of the video game software."

I don't know what Rock'n'Roll Racing is, so it's not a mjaor title, and Contra never saw an N64/PS1 iteration did it?

So most games did get into the 6th gen era in an admirable fashion.

I expanded the arguement by saying many franchises also debuted in this 6th gen console era (the era Rune claims was terrible). MGS, Smash Bros, Mario Party, Twisted Metal, Crash Bandicoot, etc all are great franchises that started in the 6th gen era and since then, like Nintendo games, and to a degree JRPG's, have been relatively unchanged.

My arguement is that the 6th gen console era was one of the most important. Most games from this era represent the best of many big franchises today, and most of those franchises that existed back then and still do now, had their best titles on the console at the time.

Best Zelda's, Mario, Starfox, Final Fantasy (3D ones), and others are arguably of similar quality (Mario Kart, MGS, Twisted Metal, etc)

#36. Uncharted 2: Among Theives (PS3)

Nowadays, I rarely replay games on a harder difficulty because I always have 2 or 3 others games waiting to be played but I enjoyed Uncharted 2 so much that I played through it 3 times (normal, hard, crushing). The story was very interesting, the characters were nicely presented and it didn't take long before you cared about them (well except for Jeff the cameraman, I didn't give a crap about him). Tthe gameplay was a nice mix of third-person shooting, stealth, (really really easy) platforming and puzzle solving. The locales you visit are simply gorgeous, the Nepal mountains and Shambala being my favorites. The game struck a balance between all its elements that just worked perfectly and kept me wanting to play it again.

#35. Super Punch Out!! (SNES, VC)

I know that when this game released on the Virtual Console some people thought it was hard, it probably is but I can't tell anymore. When Super Punch Out!! came out, I played it over and over again and I've got all of the fighter's patterns memorized. I don't beat them in less than 30 seconds like I used to but I still knock 'em down without breaking a sweat.

The fighting mechanics are pretty similar to the original game but with a really important twist on how uppercuts are used: you are no longer limited, all you need to do is build up your meter and you're free to uppercut your opponent all you want (until you are hit and you lose your meter).

The game also features a time attack mode where you try to K.O. your opponent as quickly as possible in which my brother and I spent countless hours trying to best each other's scores.

Updated my list to 34th (I am an hour early but as I am currently updating in small groups it doesn't matter)

36 - N64 - F1 World Grand Prix II (Nintendo)
35 - N64/GC - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo)
34 - Wii - The Conduit (Sega)

I have put OoT in red with my N64 games, even though I never owned it on N64, it is the console I played it on originally. I will have spent a lot more time on my GC copy though.

Just to mention, I generally don't view things quite as nostalgically as many seem to, which is why OoT is quite low down my list as it has definitely aged.

35. Final Fantasy V - GBA (22 last year):

The most underrated Final Fantasy game IMO, this game gets overshadowed by other entries in the series.  While it doesn't have the epic story that the likes of VI and XII have, I think that this is one of the best RPGs even now.  I love the job system, love the music (Clash on the Big Bridge and Decisive Battle ftw!) and pretty much everything else about this game.

#34: Pokemon Ruby+Sapphire Pinball

Like I said, it was a time of innovation meaning an open slate. Games couldn't sell based solely on name meaning many new franchises got a chance to shine. And 2D games still existed and thrived on hand-helds for a longtime (and still do) not to mention some great games of the gen were in 2D still. There was a Castlevania game on PS1 for instance and Baldurs Gate was released this gen on PC (yes PC still counts).

So, a whole new range of franchises were invented, a few older franchises died a death, some decreased in popularity, whilst others translated well. It's still mostly a positive; new devs, more franchises, more variety and new gaming experiences.

If you look at VGC sales data, many of the non Nintendo, non JRPG franchises didn't sell well. Mega Man was big, but sales were not.

I loe 3D Megaman on N64, and Mega Man Legends on PS1. Also didn't the Mega Man X franchise continue in 2D on PS1? Mega Man wasn't ruined. Sonic didn't fare too well in the 5th gen, but it was because of poor executive decisions in Sega of America/Japan and an inability to communicate with each other which caused this. When the Dreamcast came out, 3D Sonic games were a charm. Ontop of the Sonic went 3D on the Genesis and Saturn, and I loved that game just as much as the other 2D titles. Castlevania also faired well on PS1, but in 2D. 3D Castlevanias didn't sell well on N64, so it's a mixed bag. Still Symphony of the Night is often regarded as the best Castlevania and it's 5th gen.

Whoops about gen number, yea with 3DS being 8th gen, I got a little mixed up.

Also I completly disagree about aging. I still play Mario Kart 64 and Mario Party 2 with friends. They are my most played multiplayer games to date. SNES games ages well because they were sprite based, but not all of them. Breath of Fire is a hard game to play without an analog stick. It's actually easier for me to play Final Fantasy IX then VI, and next summer I play to finally play and beat Chrono Cross (On my friends PS3).

Also I grew up on the SNES, not so much the N64, and SNES is my favorite console, but N64 is a close second (I think I do like this gen a lot).

Super Mario Galaxy 2 clocks in for my number 35